"The worst thing we can do" - Sunderland AFC warned against completing €15m deal for striker | OneFootball

FLW's Sunderland fan pundit has been speaking on the potential big-money deal for Westerlo striker Matija Frigan.

Sunderland have been linked with a move for Westerlo striker Matija Frigan, with the Black Cats and the Belgian First Division side trying to thrash out the framework of a deal.

The Wearsiders are understood to be pushing for an initial loan deal with a €15m/£12.6m obligation to buy the 21-year-old should they win promotion to the Premier League this season.

However, the Belgian outfit would reportedly favour Sunderland purchasing the Croatian youth international outright this month, with a figure of €7m/£5.9m being stated as their asking price.

So, which of these two deals would provide better value to the Championship promotion chasers, or should Sunderland take their money elsewhere? To find out, we asked our Black Cats fan pundit, Jordan Newcombe.

In response to our question regarding whether Sunderland should pursue either of the reported deals for Frigan this month, Newcombe believes that spending big-money on an unproven commodity wouldn't be in the club's best interests this month.

Newcombe said: "Regarding the transfer of Frigan, I would love to have another striker on loan as a backup because there are rumours of Nazariy Rusyn going out on a loan, as well as the departure of Aaron Connolly to Millwall.

"€15m, on the other hand, no. It's probably the worst thing we can do. For a player that we don't have any knowledge about, who we don't even know if he's going to play.

"Is he worth €15m, personally, in my opinion, no. With the €7m obligation to buy from Westerlo, I would rather do that because it's not that much money getting thrown away.

"Personally, it's money getting thrown away for players that we don't know anything about, and players who we might not even be confident in signing. Other than that, I think it's good to have a striker on loan, which we need.

"After recent events against Burnley, I know a lot of people were aiming stuff at Wilson Isidor, and we've obviously got Eliezer Mayenda there as a back-up who usually plays in the attacking midfielder role, which seems to be his slot and his perfect position right now.

"He's been banging in the goals, he's been doing well. But at the minute, I wouldn't be throwing that money away. So, I do think that's bad value for a buy deal, I just want to take them on loan and go from there.

"If we want to buy them, then go in for them separately after the loan deal is over and go from there. We don't know how these strikers are going to perform, and I don't really want to risk it."

With that sort of money, Sunderland's safer option would be to recruit a proven goalscorer

Sunderland's transfer philosophy is largely centered around the identification, recruitment, development and selling on of young talent, and they've been seeing great results from this in recent times.

However, it's also been built around purchasing players for smaller fees, as they look to move away from the days of overspending and getting little to no return on their hefty investments.

So, when the time comes to spend big on an individual player with a recruitment philosophy such as Sunderland's, many supporters would likely expect such a target to be a proven commodity, arriving with as little risk as possible when throwing around big money.

That wouldn't be the case with Frigan. That's not to say that he isn't/can't become a very good player, he very well may be/become one, but at 21 and having only spent time in Croatian and Belgian football in his career so far, the size of the gamble Sunderland would be taking is obvious.

If the Black Cats are looking to roll the dice with a major investment to their forward line before the end of the window, then perhaps they'd be better served taking their money to Leicester City for a player like Tom Cannon.

Sunderland have reportedly been willing to pay as much as £13m for the 22-year-old who's bagged 11 goals in all competitions whilst on loan with Stoke City this season, but has shown himself to be a prolific centre-forward at Championship level.

Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris evidently has the financial backing of the club's hierarchy when it comes to loosening the purse strings this month, but for a club who's put an emphasis on being smarter with their money in recent times, perhaps an investment into a player like Cannon over Frigan would be the wiser choice right now.